Germany Leads Europe In Hospital Bed Capacity
Germany Leads Europe In Hospital Bed Capacity

by Niall McCarthy

According to Eurostat, Germany leads Europe in hospital bed capacity with 823 beds per 100,000 inhabitants. Eastern European nations dominate the top-half of the table.

British Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt recently rejected claims that the country's heatlh system is facing a humanitarian crisis. He argued that the UK's expenditure on health is above average for a developed nation, despite the fact that it trails most other European countries in hospital bed capacity.

According to Eurostat, Germany leads Europe in hospital bed capacity with 823 beds per 100,000 inhabitants. Eastern European nations dominate the top-half of the table with Lithuania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Poland and the Czech Republic all present in the top-10.

The United Kingdom and Ireland are at the opposite end of the table with 273 and 260 free hospital beds per 100,000 people respectively. Just last week in Ireland, a record 612 patients were waiting on trolleys for medical care in the country's 52 hospitals due to a lack of available beds. Health Minister Simon Harris denied that Ireland's trolley crisis is a national emergency.

The chart above shows available hospital beds per 100,000 inhabitants in the EU (2014).

 

Europe: "Germany Leads Europe In Hospital Bed Capacity"